# UK Construction Payment League Table (`robert-white/uk-construction-payment-league`) Actor

Who pays subcontractors on time? Rank ~1,500 UK contractors, housebuilders and clients by days to pay, % paid late and retention terms, from official GOV.UK payment practices reports.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/robert-white/uk-construction-payment-league.md
- **Developed by:** [Robert White](https://apify.com/robert-white) (community)
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 organisation in tables

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Construction Payment League Table

**Who really pays subcontractors on time?** This Actor ranks UK main contractors, housebuilders, developers and other organisations that pay for construction work by how fast they actually pay their suppliers. The figures come from their own official GOV.UK payment practices reports.

- **A full league table in one run:** around 1,500 organisations with construction contracts, ranked fastest to slowest.
- **The figures that matter to the supply chain:** average days to pay, % paid within 30 days, % paid after 60 days, % paid outside agreed terms.
- **Retention terms:** whether they hold retentions, the standard rate, whether release is staged, and retentions as a % of payments.
- **Trend:** is each company paying faster or slower than in its previous report?
- **Look up just the contractors you work with**, by name or Companies House number.

### Who it's for

- **Subcontractors and suppliers** deciding who to tender for, and on what terms
- **QS and commercial teams** pricing risk and cash flow into a bid
- **Trade associations, journalists and researchers** tracking payment performance across the industry
- **Credit controllers** checking a customer's payment record before offering terms

### How to use it

- **Full league table:** just click **Start**. You'll get every organisation with construction contracts that has reported in the last 18 months.
- **Specific contractors:** add names (or part of a name) or Companies House numbers under **Only these organisations**.
- **Narrow it down:** for example **Name contains** = `homes` for housebuilders.
- **Rank by** average days, % paid after 60 days, % paid outside agreed terms, % paid within 30 days, or retention level.
- Turn on **Include payment history** to see every report the organisation has published since 2017.

Download the results as Excel, CSV or JSON, or schedule a monthly run to track changes.

### What you get for each organisation

| Field | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| `rank` | Position in the table for your chosen ranking |
| `companyName`, `companyNumber` | The reporting organisation |
| `paymentBand` | `GOOD`, `FAIR` or `POOR` (rules below) |
| `averageDaysToPay` | Average days from invoice to payment |
| `percentPaidWithin30Days`, `percentPaid31To60Days`, `percentPaidLaterThan60Days` | Share of invoices paid in each time band |
| `percentNotPaidWithinAgreedTerms`, `percentNotPaidDueToDispute` | Late against the agreed terms, and late because of disputes |
| `shortestStandardPaymentPeriodDays`, `longestStandardPaymentPeriodDays`, `maximumContractualPaymentPeriodDays` | Their stated payment terms |
| `usesRetentions`, `retentionsInAllConstructionContracts`, `retentionStandardRatePercent` | Retention policy |
| `retentionReleaseIsStaged`, `retentionParityWithClient` | Staged release, and whether they match their own client's retention |
| `retentionAsPercentOfPayments`, `retentionVsClientRetentionsPercent` | How much they hold back |
| `participatesInPaymentCode`, `eInvoicingOffered`, `supplyChainFinanceOffered` | Supplier-friendly policies |
| `chargesSuppliersToStayOnList` | Whether they've charged suppliers to stay on their supplier list |
| `previousAverageDaysToPay`, `changeInAverageDaysToPay`, `trend` | `IMPROVING`, `WORSENING`, `NO CHANGE` or `FIRST REPORT` |
| `periodStart`, `periodEnd`, `filingDate`, `reportUrl` | The report these figures come from, with a link to it on GOV.UK |
| `history` | Every past report (only when *Include payment history* is on) |

### Payment bands

- **GOOD:** average 30 days or less, and no more than 5% of invoices paid after 60 days
- **POOR:** average over 45 days, **or** more than 15% paid after 60 days, **or** more than 40% paid outside agreed terms
- **FAIR:** everything in between

The bands are a simple guide to help you scan the table. They aren't an official rating.

### Pricing

You pay a small fee per organisation returned (see the Pricing tab). A lookup of a few contractors costs pennies. Use **Maximum rows** to cap the cost of a full table.

### Data source and notes

- Data comes from the official **GOV.UK "Check when large businesses pay their suppliers" service**, under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This Actor isn't affiliated with the Department for Business and Trade.
- Only **large companies and LLPs** must report, so smaller firms won't appear.
- Organisations self-report. Obvious typos, such as reports dated in the year 3025, are skipped.
- The "construction contracts" flag is based on what the organisation reports. It includes clients, such as academy trusts and retailers, that pay for construction work, as well as contractors.
- Figures cover each organisation's latest reporting period, usually six months.

### Related

Need to check whether a subcontractor or supplier is financially healthy? See **UK Subcontractor Health Check** by the same developer.

# Actor input Schema

## `companies` (type: `array`):

Leave empty for the full league table. Or list company names (or part of a name) or Companies House numbers to look up specific contractors.

## `nameContains` (type: `string`):

Keep only organisations whose name contains this word, e.g. 'homes' or 'construction'.

## `constructionOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only organisations that report qualifying construction contracts (main contractors, housebuilders, developers, clients and others who pay for construction work).

## `onlyReportsFromLastMonths` (type: `integer`):

Skip organisations whose most recent report is older than this, so the table reflects current behaviour.

## `reportsSince` (type: `string`):

Overrides the months setting above. Format YYYY-MM-DD.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

How to order the league table. Rank 1 is the best payer for the chosen measure.

## `includeHistory` (type: `boolean`):

Add every past report for each organisation, so you can see the trend over the years.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Safety limit on rows (and cost) per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "companies": [],
  "constructionOnly": true,
  "onlyReportsFromLastMonths": 18,
  "sortBy": "averageDaysToPay",
  "includeHistory": false,
  "maxResults": 2000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "companies": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("robert-white/uk-construction-payment-league").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "companies": [] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("robert-white/uk-construction-payment-league").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "companies": []
}' |
apify call robert-white/uk-construction-payment-league --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,robert-white/uk-construction-payment-league"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/N1s7o3H9oFM33dMfC/builds/diyPbQ2xOaxd6YNL3/openapi.json